Scarlett Johansson on Florence Pugh Taking Over The BLACK WIDOW Franchise
Marvel’s upcoming Black Widow movie will most likely be the last time that we see Scarlett Johansson in the role of Natasha Romanoff a.k.a. Black Widow. So, when it was announced that Florence Pugh would be taking on the role of Yelena, Natasha's sister, a lot of fans speculated that she would be taking on the mantel of Black Widow for the future films of the MCU.
While speaking with Total Film/Games Radar, Johansson opened up about her hopes for Pugh's character taking over the franchise, saying:
“I definitely felt that way from the very beginning. She stands completely on her own. She’s strong and different. She’s so different to Natasha.”
She goes on to talk about Yelena and the kind of character she is, and explains how she’s different from Natasha:
“You also see the generational difference, too, in how they react to things, and what they’re careful about, or what they’re careless about. It’s so fresh, what she does. It’s very representative, also, of who she is as a person. She’s unapologetic, and confident in herself, and curious, and brave, and emotionally brave – far more than I ever was. And that stuff all comes through. It’s wonderful to feel like you’re witnessing something great happening.”
When talking about her own future in the Marvel franchise as Black Widow, Pugh says:
“If you get asked to be in a Marvel film, and it was so thrilling and fun and exciting to be in, then of course, your head goes: ‘Oh my God. If this is what it’s like, then what else is next? If that happens and I am lucky enough that people appreciate my character, that’s an exciting road to go on. I would be silly to not be excited by it. I think that being part of the Marvel club is a great honour. But we’ll just see if people like Yelena first.”
The director of the film, Cate Shortland, previously shared her thoughts on this, saying that Johansson will “hand the baton off to her”:
"[Kevin Feige] realised that the audience would expect an origin story so, of course, we went in the opposite direction. And we didn’t know how great Florence Pugh would be. We knew she would be great, but we didn’t know how great. Scarlett is so gracious, like, ‘Oh, I’m handing her the baton.’ So it’s going to propel another female storyline."
I imagine that this film won’t be the last time we see Pugh as Black Widow and it will be interesting to see how the character’s story arc plays out over the course of the future MCU films.
Marvel’s spy thriller follows Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow, as she confronts the darker parts of her ledger when a dangerous conspiracy with ties to her past arises. Pursued by a force that will stop at nothing to bring her down, Natasha must deal with her history as a spy and the broken relationships left in her wake long before she became an Avenger.
Black Widow will be released in theaters on November 6th, 2020.